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Dukanovic, Bayside come from behind late
By Zachary Braziller October 3, 2008
With one play, Bayside ended an afternoon chock full of frustration.
With one pass, Damir Dukanovic became the engineer of a comeback, not an inconsistent gunslinger. With one 27-yard touchdown reception, Wesley Artis stamped his burgeoning senior year as a clutch performer, not a fumbler who paved the way for Midwood’s lone touchdown. And with one jarring block, Kory Dildy erased his own miscue – when he didn’t come up to catch Jonathan Fernandez’s punt, allowing the 54-yarder to roll an additional 20 yards – and sent Artis on his way for the eventual game-winning score.
“It all came together,” Bayside coach Jason Levitt said, “at the end.”
And when the 27-yard pass-and-catch was complete, with just 3:45 left on the clock, Bayside (3-2) was on its way to a character-building 14-10 win over Midwood. The Commodores hadn’t experienced this feeling so far. They had only known the despair of blowing leads, 24-8 against Grady in Week 2 and 12-0 last Saturday against New Dorp.
“Our mindset was basically it happened to us twice, ‘Why can’t we do it?’” Dukanovic said.
Of course, none of it would’ve been possible without Onur Gurbuz, the Commodores all-everything senior running back/wide receiver/middle linebacker/return specialist and kicker. His 26-yard run on a fake punt led to their first touchdown, his own six-yard reception, and he added two sacks and a forced fumble for good measure. All, mind you, with a dislocated thumb on his right hand.
“I had no choice,” he said. “I had to do it for my team.”
Bayside’s offense didn’t play a crisp first half, turning the ball over three times. Dukanovic (14-of-26, 215 yards, 2 TDs) missed several open Commodores down the field, the most egregious over-throwing Tim Brown Jr. on a post corner in which the closest Hornet defensive back was 10 yards away. For a team built on its downfield passing attack, it wasn’t blocking very well either, yielding four sacks in all, three to defensive end Daniel Georges, three more than their previous two games.
“I was like, ‘What’s wrong with us?’” Levitt wondered.
The defense, meanwhile, hung tough, giving up just Collin Hannay’s 16-yard scoring strike to Donovan Bleus that was set up by Artis’s fumble at the Commodore 15-yard line.
Bayside did a good amount of soul-searching at halftime. Levitt asked his players to have fun and relax. The coaching staff changed the gameplan. Dukanovic’s bombs were sailing, being taken too far by the wind, so shorter routes were called. Trailing by just 10 points, and stifling the Hornets’ ground attack, a comeback, with such an explosive passing game – Dukanovic leads the city in passing yards with 1,162 and 11 TDs – Levitt said, was within reach.
“Our offense is geared to come from behind,” he said.
But the Commodores didn’t start believing until Gurbuz took matters into his own hands. Set to punt on the first drive of the second half at their own 48-yard line, yet another disappointing set of downs, he called an audible, taking off for 26 yards down the right sideline.
“The game changed on that fake punt,” Midwood coach Steve Basile said.
Levitt didn’t call in the play; it was a designed roll-out punt. Gurbuz, Levitt explained, often gets extra oomph on his kicks when he is in motion. When the senior saw nothing but field turf in front, he took off. Four plays later, on another broken play, Dukanovic found Gurbuz, leading with that dislocated thumb, in the slot to get Bayside on the board.
“He’s just phenomenal,” Dukanovic said. “He’s a warrior.”
It remained that way, in large part to three fourth-quarter sacks, two by Gurbuz, who also forced a fumble from his spot at middle linebacker, and the continued tenacity of the defense, until late in the final stanza.
Dildy got the drive off to a poor start, failing to run in to grab Fernandez’s booming kick. Yet, Dukanovic immediately went to work, making plays with his feet – not the senior’s strength – to move the ball down to the Midwood 27 after delivering a 14-yard completion, absorbing the hit from Georges.
It was there, at that moment, the transformation truly occurred. Rolling right, he saw tight coverage on Artis, yet got rid of it anyway, putting everything on the pass, as he always does. Artis kept cornerback Dwayne Louis on his back long enough to make the reception, the corner nearly picking the pass off.
“Luckily,” Dukanovic said, “it was a good enough throw.”
And as he turned, Artis saw Dildy out of the corner of his eye, full speed ahead. As he started churning his legs, Dildy cleaned up Bleus, as Dukanovic described the hit, laying the junior out, and springing Artis.
“Definitely the biggest play of the season so far,” Levitt said. “Obviously, I’m proud. We fought back.”
zbraziller@fiveborosports.com
With one pass, Damir Dukanovic became the engineer of a comeback, not an inconsistent gunslinger. With one 27-yard touchdown reception, Wesley Artis stamped his burgeoning senior year as a clutch performer, not a fumbler who paved the way for Midwood’s lone touchdown. And with one jarring block, Kory Dildy erased his own miscue – when he didn’t come up to catch Jonathan Fernandez’s punt, allowing the 54-yarder to roll an additional 20 yards – and sent Artis on his way for the eventual game-winning score.
“It all came together,” Bayside coach Jason Levitt said, “at the end.”
And when the 27-yard pass-and-catch was complete, with just 3:45 left on the clock, Bayside (3-2) was on its way to a character-building 14-10 win over Midwood. The Commodores hadn’t experienced this feeling so far. They had only known the despair of blowing leads, 24-8 against Grady in Week 2 and 12-0 last Saturday against New Dorp.
“Our mindset was basically it happened to us twice, ‘Why can’t we do it?’” Dukanovic said.
Of course, none of it would’ve been possible without Onur Gurbuz, the Commodores all-everything senior running back/wide receiver/middle linebacker/return specialist and kicker. His 26-yard run on a fake punt led to their first touchdown, his own six-yard reception, and he added two sacks and a forced fumble for good measure. All, mind you, with a dislocated thumb on his right hand.
“I had no choice,” he said. “I had to do it for my team.”
Bayside’s offense didn’t play a crisp first half, turning the ball over three times. Dukanovic (14-of-26, 215 yards, 2 TDs) missed several open Commodores down the field, the most egregious over-throwing Tim Brown Jr. on a post corner in which the closest Hornet defensive back was 10 yards away. For a team built on its downfield passing attack, it wasn’t blocking very well either, yielding four sacks in all, three to defensive end Daniel Georges, three more than their previous two games.
“I was like, ‘What’s wrong with us?’” Levitt wondered.
The defense, meanwhile, hung tough, giving up just Collin Hannay’s 16-yard scoring strike to Donovan Bleus that was set up by Artis’s fumble at the Commodore 15-yard line.
Bayside did a good amount of soul-searching at halftime. Levitt asked his players to have fun and relax. The coaching staff changed the gameplan. Dukanovic’s bombs were sailing, being taken too far by the wind, so shorter routes were called. Trailing by just 10 points, and stifling the Hornets’ ground attack, a comeback, with such an explosive passing game – Dukanovic leads the city in passing yards with 1,162 and 11 TDs – Levitt said, was within reach.
“Our offense is geared to come from behind,” he said.
But the Commodores didn’t start believing until Gurbuz took matters into his own hands. Set to punt on the first drive of the second half at their own 48-yard line, yet another disappointing set of downs, he called an audible, taking off for 26 yards down the right sideline.
“The game changed on that fake punt,” Midwood coach Steve Basile said.
Levitt didn’t call in the play; it was a designed roll-out punt. Gurbuz, Levitt explained, often gets extra oomph on his kicks when he is in motion. When the senior saw nothing but field turf in front, he took off. Four plays later, on another broken play, Dukanovic found Gurbuz, leading with that dislocated thumb, in the slot to get Bayside on the board.
“He’s just phenomenal,” Dukanovic said. “He’s a warrior.”
It remained that way, in large part to three fourth-quarter sacks, two by Gurbuz, who also forced a fumble from his spot at middle linebacker, and the continued tenacity of the defense, until late in the final stanza.
Dildy got the drive off to a poor start, failing to run in to grab Fernandez’s booming kick. Yet, Dukanovic immediately went to work, making plays with his feet – not the senior’s strength – to move the ball down to the Midwood 27 after delivering a 14-yard completion, absorbing the hit from Georges.
It was there, at that moment, the transformation truly occurred. Rolling right, he saw tight coverage on Artis, yet got rid of it anyway, putting everything on the pass, as he always does. Artis kept cornerback Dwayne Louis on his back long enough to make the reception, the corner nearly picking the pass off.
“Luckily,” Dukanovic said, “it was a good enough throw.”
And as he turned, Artis saw Dildy out of the corner of his eye, full speed ahead. As he started churning his legs, Dildy cleaned up Bleus, as Dukanovic described the hit, laying the junior out, and springing Artis.
“Definitely the biggest play of the season so far,” Levitt said. “Obviously, I’m proud. We fought back.”
zbraziller@fiveborosports.com